This invention relates to holding golf balls in an accessible, portable manner that may be carried on the golfer""s belt, pocket, or pants or attached to the golf bag. When playing a game of golf, it is very common to lose a golf ball or desire to change to a clean golf ball. Usually the golfer must reach into their pants or jacket pocket or the accompanying golf bag to retrieve a new golf ball. This tends to disrupt a golfer""s concentration and is disruptive to the golfer. Further, when a golfer plays on a wet day or early in the morning with dew on the grass, the golf balls typically become very wet. Most golfers carry their golf balls in their pants or jacket pocket. Unfortunately, this typically makes the pants or jacket pocket very damp and soiled from the dirt, grass and water that accumulate on the golf ball thereby wetting, soiling and staining the clothing. Finally, many golf ball holders are fixed to the pants or belt such that when a golfer bends over, the golf ball holder tilts significantly enough for the golf balls to fall out of the golf ball holder.
The objective of the instant invention is to solve these problems by keeping golf balls in a convenient easily accessible location and not come into direct contact with clothing and eliminating the need for repeated use of the pants or jacket pockets. Further, an additional objective of the instant invention is to provide a golf ball holder that is easy to use, entails a modern and unique design, and stores the golf balls in a secure, yet readily accessible fashion. Finally, the golf ball holder must be rugged, lightweight, and an attractive golf accessory.
Other golf ball holders have been proposed and implemented. The closest in the art, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,707 issued to Lion on Sep. 10, 1996, was devised to hold golf balls in a container consisting of a top and bottom connected by three elongated elements. A major drawback of this device is that the ball must be placed into the holder by pushing a golf ball through two of the elongated elements, thereby pushing two of the elongated elements in such a manner as to produce an opening large enough to allow the golf ball to enter. This is a difficult procedure that makes the holder impractical to use, and may cause the Lion golf ball holder to break.
Other previous art includes U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,061 issued to Harrison on Jan. 2, 2001. Harrison teaches a tray section formed integrally with a leg section. The golf balls are contained in the tray section of the invention and the leg section attaches the golf ball holder to the belt. A major drawback of Harrison is that the golf balls are not securely contained as in the instant invention. If the golfer bends down the Harrision invention would tilt and allow the golf balls to disengage. Further, the Harrison invention is significantly extended from the golferxe2x80x3s body and would be uncomfortable to the golfer.
The instant invention is a portable golf ball holder, comprising: a flared, elongated, slightly flattened, hollow, cylindrical enclosure having a top surface, a bottom surface, a front surface, and a back surface. The golf ball holder is most commonly manufactured from polymer or polymer composite materials. The top surface forms a oblong top opening slightly larger in diameter than that of a regulation golf ball, and the bottom surface forms a bottom opening slightly smaller than that of a regulation golf ball. The back surface contains a circular extension that protrudes from the back surface and can be engaged into various commercially available belt clips commonly used to secure cellular telephones to the trousers either at the waistband of the trousers or the belt. The front surface of the instant invention contains an area that can be used to affix advertising for a company or organization.
The instant invention also is comprised of a custom belt clip, which has a front leg, a back leg, and a bridge that integrally and hingedly connects the front leg with the back leg. The front leg forms two circular apertures that can receive the circular extension from the golf ball holder. On the inside portion of the front leg, a small lip is formed that aids in securing the belt clip to the clothing of the wearer. The clip is removed from the belt by squeezing the top portion of the front and back legs together to open the bottom portions of the front and back legs. The back leg is slightly longer than the front leg. The back leg securely fits around the belt or inside the waistband of the wearer.